


Picture Perfect

by Aisjustrunning



Category: You Could Make a Life Series - Taylor Fitzpatrick
Genre: (would be fully canon compliant were it not for one specific thing), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, POV Outsider, wedding pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21851602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aisjustrunning/pseuds/Aisjustrunning
Summary: Erin has an idea to make sure Jared and Bryce get to keep memories of their wedding day.
Relationships: Bryce Marcus/Jared Matheson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 43





	Picture Perfect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sylviarachel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylviarachel/gifts).



> Written for sylviarachel for the [ycmal holiday exchange](https://ycmalholidayexchange.tumblr.com/)! I'm pinch-hitting, so this is pretty short, but I hope you have as much fun reading as I had writing it. The prompts I used were Jared/Bryce, Mathesons & Marcuses, Matheson-Marcus wedding photos and a bit of Erin Matheson & Julius Halla. 
> 
> Thanks to Arya for the beta. She did a wonderful job. Oh, and disclaimer: there are a few lines from canon, which I used to situate the fic within the original story.
> 
> Happy holidays :)
> 
> (Ah, sylviarachel, I'd like to use your prompt 'Susan & Elaine’s wedding planning Pinterest board / google doc / spreadsheet' for something else in the future if you don't mind!)

“No pictures in the wedding” was one of the first rules set out by Bryce’s agent, one enthusiastically supported by Jared’s. Of course, Erin understands why that’s a rule —the risk of anything leaking is too high, especially for Bryce. And her brother is an asshole, but Bryce, despite all appearances, is an angel. She won’t admit that out loud, but he is. Also, the dress he bought for her is wonderful. So he deserves something nice. He deserves to be able to take out a dusty box in, like, 50 years, and take out old pictures and maybe shed a tear or two. He should be able to keep memories of what’s supposed to be the best day of his life.

That’s how the idea for the best present ever came to her.

She had to check with mom first, of course, not only because she needed a loan, but also to make sure there is nothing wrong with the plan. It looked foolproof to her, but this was too important to fuck up. Besides, according to what she’d heard, Bryce’s agent could probably murder her if this went wrong in any way.

“That’s a good idea, Erin,” she said when Erin explained what she was planning to do. Then added, sounding surprised, “Very thoughtful of you.”

Which, bullshit. Erin is thoughtful all the time. She’s so thoughtful that she’s currently helping her brother calm his nerves before the wedding instead of, like, sunbathing outside and showing everybody how nice her dress looks.

Jared doesn’t look nice. He looks like a mess, face blotchy and red, and he’s not even in his tux yet. She needs to take a picture of this. When she finishes showing Jared the way her dress twirls (she has to show somebody), Erin takes the camera from her handbag and snaps one. 

“Eh! Summers said no pictures of the wedding,” Jared says, trying to snatch the camera from her hands. Erin is faster and manages to stay away long enough for the little camera to finish printing the photo. “You can’t do that, fuck. You know the problems–”

“It’s a polaroid, you dummy,” she cuts him. He looks at her, visibly confused by why that should matter. “The photos are instantaneously printed. You don’t have to take the film to develop it anywhere, and it’s not digital! It won’t be stored in any device or any cloud or anything! You just need to be careful with the photos. Hide them, or something.”

Jared is still looking at her, mouth gaping “That is…” He pauses, unable to find the right word.

“Amazing, I know,” she finished for him. “I am the best sister in the whole world and I am going to take so many pictures of your wedding you won’t know what to do with all of them.”

“Thank you, Erin.” Jared surprises her with a hug, and for a moment she lets him embrace her. She’s about to break the contact when Jared beats her to it, clearing his throat. “Ok, now go tell Bryce, in case he freaks out when he sees the camera.”

“Oh, mom told Elaine, so he probably knows already.” She turns towards the door anyway, with a little twirl again.

“Am I the last one to know?” he sounds indignant, which is a better look that “flustered and in love” if Erin has a say in it.

“Yup, sorry. Now get dressed, before mom–”

Too late. The door opens, and mom enters, looking stressed as well, taking in the scene before her: Erin twirling and Jared still nowhere near close to ready for his own wedding. 

“Erin stop twirling and come here if you still want me to do your makeup,” mom says from the doorway, then, “Jared, why aren’t you dressed yet? Did you forget you’re getting married today?”

****

After getting her makeup done, she goes to find somebody who would be willing to take pictures during the ceremony, as she’ll be too busy being a maid of honor and showing off her dress. Everybody else seems to be doing something, though, and she’s almost given up when she sees Julius, standoffish and awkward surrounded by people who all know each better than he knows anybody.

She doesn’t feel too bad for him, after the way he was looking at Bryce during Christmas and how she knows it made Bryce feel, but she has a mission here. Pictures must be taken, and she won’t be able to do it, so Jared’s weird Finnish teammate it is. 

“Hey.” She approaches him, and he looks up. “Do you know how to take a good picture?” It doesn’t hurt to ask; hockey players aren’t exactly known for their artistic sensibility. 

He seems to ponder it seriously. 

Or maybe that’s just his face. 

“Yes,” he says in the end, slowly, as if hesitating, unsure whether there’s a hidden meaning to the words. The sound of the drawn out ‘s’ is still in the air when Eric shoves the camera into Julius’ hands.

“Perfect! You just have to click here, wait for the picture to appear, and then you shake it like this.” She mimics the movement in the air.” You have film for 50 --well, 49 now-- photos. So don’t mess up.” She’s going to leave to avoid giving him time to refuse to do it, but she has to make sure the most important part of the wedding is captured, so she says: “If Jared cries, please get it on camera.”

He’s smiling when she looks behind his shoulder on her way back to the house, while she rubs her eyes —her whole face is itchy.

“Erin!” She hears her mom shout from Jared’s room. “Do you have the rings?”

She has yet another job to do. 

****

There’s a framed photo in Jared and Bryce’s bedroom. 

It’s not a great picture, objectively speaking. At first sight, you can tell the composition is bad and the photographer probably paid no mind to that at all. There’s too much summer sky, and the feet of the grooms are out of frame. It’s not centred. The light is weird. A professional photographer would cough discreetly and complain later on Instagram about unqualified practice and people ruining their best memories by having amateurs do the job.

If you look closely, if you really pay attention, it’s a wonderful picture, one perfectly capturing what it was intended to. Jared and Bryce are standing alone, a row of trees at their back and a line of blue lake water visible between the branches. They are both facing the camera, but neither of them are actually looking at the photographer, their faces rather focused on each other, all pink cheeks, red lips, and shiny eyes giving away the tears that filled them moments ago. 

They are not as shiny as the rings newly added to their tangled fingers. 

There are more pictures in a box, photos taken during the ceremony and after, when the camera was passed around, several Marcuses and Mathesons taking the chance to immortalise the dances, the food, the smiles and the vanilla-chocolate cake. There’s a picture of Raf and Grace shuffling on the dance floor while Ashley and Chaz dance in the background, the two couples so different it seems impossible they were listening to the same song. There is one of Elaine, Don and Susan sipping wine and laughing, grandparents clinking glasses, and another one of Julius eating a cupcake —to this day, nobody knows where he found that. Deeper in the box, there are several pictures of Jared and Bryce, looking ridiculously in love, smiling at each other or kissing or holding hands, and one of Jared's face zoomed in while he cried. 

These pictures are waiting for a place to be hung, maybe in the living room of a bigger house. Maybe to be placed in an album, to be shown to mortified children and curious grandchildren, to be looked at, and to help people remember, and maybe, if Jared and Bryce are ever ready, to share with the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Kudos and comments are love :)


End file.
